Scarlet's Promise
by Violet Inkpen
Summary: a fanfiction about Will Sacrlet from Robin Hood, based off of C. A. Gaughen's book 'Scarlet'
1. Chapter 1

Scarlet's Promise

I ducked beneath the swinging sword just in time to keep my head attacked to my shoulders. My attacker, a large man with a cruel smile, staggered forward from the force of his swing. In that brief second when he was off balance I managed to throw a kick to his stomach that sent him reeling. A quick toss of one of my throwing knives finished him off.

I pulled my hat down together over my head and glanced around. The battle had been a brief one; four against eight. It wasn't really fair; to the other team that is.

Robin Hood, John Little, Much and I were a force to be reckoned with. If the knights had simply accepted defeat from the start and handed over their chest of jewels then things wouldn't have gotten messy. Sadly the knights were never wise enough to know when they were beat. We were forced to take drastic measures.

Robin was just coming out of a summersault that had carried him away from a wicked punch. Having avoided blackening his beautiful eyes, he wheeled around suddenly, drew and arrow, and fired. It happened in the blink of an eye. I nearly missed it.

John Little was in the process of punching the living daylights out of his opponent, using only his fists to combat a knight who wielded a dagger against him. I grinned with pride; that was our Little John!

Seeing no others to keep myself busy, I trotted over to the chest of jewels. Much was already there, lifting one side of it. It was a difficult task for him since he only had one hand; the other had been taken from him as a penalty for stealing. That was before I met him; before I taught him how to be an expert thief.

Much acknowledged my with a nod of his head. Wordlessly I picked up the other end of the chest and helped him haul it away from the fight. Before we had even carried it a few feet John was upon us. He grabbed the chest from the two of us, hoisted it onto his shoulders, and broke into a run.

There were times when I envied his strength. Much and I were the physically weakest members of Robin's band, and even though we each had our uses it sometimes made me feel inferior.

It got even more annoying when everyone went out of their way to 'protect' me or help me. You see, my name is Will. Will Scarlet. The boy who can do anything. He prowls like a thief in the knight, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. He can break into any prison, any castle, anywhere, and do anything he needs to do to help the people of Nottingham.

That is the legend. That is what everyone knows. What very few people know however is that 'Will' Scarlet isn't all he seems to be. Or all she seems to be, rather.

That's right. I'm a girl!

We stashed the loot in our secret cave, congratulating each other on another successful raid. The jewelry and gold would have to be melted down before we could sell it for money; we couldn't risk it being recognized.

We had only five days to accomplish this task before the tax collectors would start beating on doors. If we didn't get the money to the villagers in time, people would die.

It wasn't a responsibility we took lightly. No one had ever asked for our help but Robin felt like it was his duty. He was just noble like that.

Me, I'm just a thief by nature. Ever since the tragedy that befell my sister and I, I turned to a life of crime. It was only because of Robin that any good came out of my stealings. He saved my life in more ways than one.

"Alright everyone that should take care of the taxes for the entire village and then some! Good work! I'm going to do some hunting. Want to join me, John?"

Robin raised his dark eyebrows at his oldest friend. John had the pleasure of growing up with Robin, our leader; Much and I met him much later in life.

John rubbed his chin in thought. On one hand he could join Robin on a hunt which was bound to be fun and a good chance to show off his skills (which John never tired from), but on the other hand he could slip over to Tucker's for a warm meal and socialization.

There were times I truly believed John Little's favorite hobby was warming the benches at Tucker's. Just because Tucker gave us food for free in thanks for all we did for the community didn't mean we always took advantage of that offer but John did. If he wasn't at the cave or in town then you had to be sure to check Tucker's Tavern.

"I guess I'll come." He said reluctantly.

Much and I smirked at each other. We both knew John's mind was wandering elsewhere.

Robin nodded to John then turned to Much. "Keep her out of trouble; the last thing we need is for our Scarlet to go sneaking into the prison again."

I stomped my food in indignation. Robin was our leader when it came to things like stealing and hunting and fighting but he wasn't our boss; if I wanted to sneak into the prisons to deliver food or words of comfort then I had every right to.

I was opening my mouth to say so when Much grabbed my arm and gave it a squeeze. He seemed to know I was about to explode.

"Scarlet and I will pay a visit to the town, see who needs food the most. You know the Bakers' have that new baby; they probably need something to put on the dinner table."

Robin glanced at me. I lifted my chin, daring him to give me an order that we both knew I wouldn't obey. Instead he just nodded farewell and ducked out of the cave, John on his heels.

Much and I went into town alright, but we split up as soon as we could. He went to knock on doors and offer food while I wandered off on my own.

No matter how much I loved the boys and being a part of the band, there were many times I needed to be by myself. I had always been a loner but the horrific happenings of the past had deepened that instinct inside of me. Watching my sister die while I stood helpless, knowing it was my fault she wasn't living a different life, knowing it was I who tore her from her promise of a bright future….that memory still haunted me.

So I went off my myself a lot. Sometimes I slept in the cave with the band and sometimes I found myself a tree or a barn to shelter me. I guess I felt like I couldn't think my most private thoughts around the band; almost as if I feared they would read my mind and discover my secrets.

Robin knew a lot about me and what my life was like before we met, but he didn't know it all. He didn't know what kind of life I gave up, or how I lived in constant terror of being discovered by someone who knew me. I felt as if I were two separate people. One was Scarlet, the girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy who was fearless and free; the other was my name before I ran away, the girl who was afraid and weak and spoiled.

I had left that life behind but it never truly released its grip on me. I hid so much from my fellow thieves and if they knew the full truth…deep down I was afraid they would hate me for it.

So I found myself walking through the village alone at a slow pace, allowing my mind to spin and cycle through things.

I nodded to a few people, waved to others, and avoided some. I especially tired to avoid Mary Baily who thought Will Scarlet was 'cute' and 'heroic' and 'handsome'. That was just a recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

Twice that girl had tired to kiss me and twice I ended up running away from her like a dog with its tail between his legs. Little John thought it was the funniest thing in the world and he laughed so hard about it I had to punch him in the gut to shut him up.

There was also Mrs. Yelvin. I hated running into her. She hated me. She accused me of all sorts of sins just because I was a thief. She refused to accept any help the band offered her, neither food nor money, claiming it was from the devil because we had stolen it.

The strange thing was she admired Robin Hood and John. She thought they were 'such good boys'. Even though they were just as much thieves as I was, she still thought the world of them. Her opinion was that I had corrupted them.

True, they didn't steal as much before I joined the band but that was because they didn't really know HOW to steal.

With that thought in my mind I caught sight of a lone knight, pushing his way through the crowd. He seemed in a hurry, his eyes wide and wild, his mouth opened in shock.

People moved out of his way quickly to let him through. As he pushed past me I managed to reach out my hand and snatch his coin pouch from his belt. He was so preoccupied that he never even noticed.

I cradled the sack of coins in my hand, trying to muffle the sounds of them clanking together. Sometimes it was just too easy!

After tucking the coins into my boot, I followed the knight. Although my thieving was a big part of supplying the band with the means to help people, my most important skill was finding information. Much and I were very good at blending in and going unseen; we were Robin's own private informants.

If there was something rattling the knights then we needed to know about it. I followed hard on his heels, trying not to look like I was.

The knight was heading straight for the castle with his urgent news. I wouldn't be able to follow him in there without being detected; at least not through any normal routes. I had many secret entrances that not even Robin knew about so following the knight would be a breeze.

When the man got to the gate and demanded to be let in I slipped around to the other side of the wall. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I ducked into a cluster of bushes and began to wiggle a loose brick.

It would take the knight a few moments to explain why he wanted to get inside the castle, and then a few more moments for the guards to unlock the gate and let him in. This secret entrance was annoying because it wasn't the quickest route but it was the closet to my current location.

Brick by brick I worked, removing the loose ones and stacking them beneath the bush until there was a hole just large enough for a small boy to squeeze through. A small boy, or a skinny girl.

I crawled through the hole then carefully crossed the courtyard. There were guards patrolling the wall, and two guarding the front door of the castle. The courtyard had trees and a fountain but it was still far too open for my taste. This was the hardest part of my self-appointed mission, but one I had accomplished many times.

I could see the guards letting the knight through just as I made it to the steps of the castle. I squatted down beside them, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

No matter how many times I did something like this there was always the lingering fear of detection. The knights wouldn't be too kind to someone who had managed to slip past them into their castle. If they didn't do their jobs satisfactory they could find themselves imprisoned or worse; it gave them an incentive to be alert.

The knight's boots passed inches from my face as he clattered up the steps on his way to the door. No doubt he would be meeting with the Sheriff.

I crept away from the stairs, circling the castle until I came to a specific corner. It was at just the right angle to shield me from unfriendly eyes.

Climbing the wall wasn't too hard for me; I had done it thousands of times. It was constructed by bricks in an odd pattern that made every other brick stick out just enough for you to get your fingers around. Perfect hand and foot holds.

I scaled up higher and higher until I was beneath the window of the Sheriff's private office. It had taken weeks of sneaking about to find this perfect ledge where I could listen in on any conversation happening inside the room. Even when the window was closed, there was a tiny gap that let enough sound through for me to make out the words being spoken.

There was movement from inside. I held my breath, waiting, trying to be silent as possible.

"I've been told you have urgent business to discuss with me. You better make it fast; I'm a very busy man you know."

The Sheriff sounded irritated. By 'very busy' he meant that he was in the process of counting his money, something he did every day with great pleasure. Sometimes I would sneak into his office and steal a few handfuls for the sole purpose of ticking him off. Imagining the look on his face when he counted and came up a few short was a great source of entertainment for our little band.

"It is very important, sir. Very important. As you know Lady Bella De'Garthe was being escorted to London to visit her grandparents. Well sir it seems…it seems she's been kidnapped."

There was a pause. The Sheriff sucked in a worried breath.

"Lady De'Garthe? Heir to Blackwood Manor? She…she's been kidnapped?" He asked.

I have never heard of a Lady De'Garthe, but everyone knew of Blackwood Manor. Whoever owned the land was highly respected. It was one of the best hunting grounds in the entire country and many traveled from far away and paid lots of money for the privileges of hunting there.

The Lord or Lady of the Manor was always an important political figure who had a wide scope of power. Even the King himself respected their authority. Unless they were traitors or committed some horrendous crime they were pretty much untouchable.

"The very same, Sir. It is believed that Robin Hood's cursed gang had stolen away with her. She vanished not too far from here and since those repulsive thieves stalk the roads between here and London…."

My fingers tightened around the ledge I was dangling from. Repulsive? We were honorable and I liked to think that all four of us were pretty good looking. This knight with his scraggly beard, baggy eyelids, and sweaty face was by far more repulsive than we were.

"Robin Hood? If that scoundrel has taken her then we MUST get her back. I will see to the search myself. Mark my words, if she is in Sherwood forest or anywhere near Nottingham we WILL find her even if I have to call in a legion of soldiers from all across the country to help me!"

I felt my heart start to sink. This was not good news for us. Not good news at all…..

TO BE CONTINUED….


	2. Chapter 2

SCARLET'S PROMISE CHAPTER 2

"You know her, she's probably off hugging trees or something. She'll turn up. Stop worrying, Robin."

I heard John Little's voice the moment I walked into Tucker's Tavern. Tucker kept a room in the back specifically for our gang and usually people couldn't hear our conversations that we had back there, but John was being unusually loud and cheerful.

I crept closer, hanging in the shadows so that the boys wouldn't see me until I wanted them to.

"I don't know John; she has a habit for getting herself into trouble." Robin glanced down at his mug.

Much had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back and watched his two friends quietly. He did everything quietly.

"She always gets herself out of it though." John waved his hand dismissively.

Robin smirked at that. He had to admit John was right. I was even better at getting out of trouble than I was at getting into trouble.

"We just have to wait for her to turn up." Much mumbled, rubbing his nose.

I chose that moment to make my entrance. I breezed into the room, shoulders thrown back, taking long, swinging steps. I put a relaxed smile on my face, meeting Robin's eyes, daring him to find fault with me.

"Who's going to turn up?" I asked in my most innocent voice.

John rolled his eyes as if he knew that I had been listening in on their conversation. He probably guessed I had been; I was good at listening in on people.

Much stood up and scooted over on the bench, making room for me. I propped up a foot on the bench but didn't sit, I simply leaned over the table, waiting.

"Where did you go off to?" Robin asked, rubbing his hands together.

"I did some stalking, some climbing, some hanging, and some listening. Got me some news." I announced, grinning in satisfaction.

John passed me his mug, offering me a sip. I snatched it from him and drank deeply. Robin passed me his half-eaten dinner. They boys were always concerned about my appetite; I hardly ate anything at all.

I guess I just felt guilty stuffing my mouth when so many people were starving. I almost felt like me having a full stomach was taking food out of the mouths of the villagers. I went days and days without food sometimes to the point where eating made me sick. Robin was very strict about making sure I ate these days; he didn't trust me to feed myself.

"Let's here it then." Robin dipped his head to me.

I slammed down the empty mug on the table and grinned at the boys, making extra sure I had their attention. At first John was too busy trying to steal Much's drink to notice but after a long moment of silence he hunched his shoulders and glanced at me.

I took a deep breath and related to them all that I had learned. At first Robin and John looked relaxed. A missing Lady wasn't too big of a deal for us. But when I mentioned the running theory that WE had taken her, then all three of them got worried.

"Why would we kidnap a Lady? How could they even thing that?" Much asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Because the Sheriff thinks we are scoundrels and he'll use any excuse to hunt us down. This gives him the perfect opportunity to call in extra support. Every town everywhere has its group of thieves but people who are willing to kidnap such a high ranking Lady?" Robin shook his head. "They are going to be tearing the forest apart looking for us. This is very, very bad."

No one spoke for a long time. We all knew what news like this meant for us. It meant that our job got harder. Stealing and handing out food and money to the villagers was going to be trickier. We had to go undetected and all that extra caution would cut our time short forcing us to work harder to meet the demands of the poor villagers.

"What are we going to do about this?" John asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What can we do about this?" Much mumbled, glancing around nervously.

"Fight!" I said. "Nothing!" Robin interjected.

We glanced at each other. He crossed his arms.

"You can't fight your way out of every problem, Scar." He scolded me.

I rolled my eyes. "You would rather hide and cower in the shadows? The harder they make things on us, the more the people suffer. We can't do our jobs well unless we find a way to get the extra knights off our back."

Robin clenched his jaw. "They aren't even on our backs yet."

"But they will be." I argued.

"Cross that bridge when we get there. Right now we do what we always do; help the people. We may have to find new ways to get them their tax money and distribute the food, but they aren't going to get us. We aren't going to let them get us."

He seemed so determined, so sure. After two years of doing this, we hadn't been caught once but I knew that something like that couldn't last unless we were smart. We had to take action to fix our problems. I knew this one was too big for us to hide from; it wouldn't go away. They would never stop hounding us until the got their precious 'Lady' back.

It was a week later that a group of fifty knights marched into our village, armor shinning and swords raised. They paraded through the streets, pushing villagers out of their way as if the people mattered to them less than flies.

I watched it all from the rooftop of the tailor's shop. Robin was across the street, leaning against a wall. He wore his hood up, more because the people loved it than because he wanted to hide his face.

John and Much were somewhere in the crowd, keeping their eyes on things just as Robin and I were.

The knights made their way to the palace, reporting for duty. It wouldn't take long for the Sheriff to spread them out and send them on their search. We would have to be careful now.

I've been considering the problem carefully since Robin and I had our argument at the tavern. Unless we could suddenly produce their missing Lady and return her safely to them, they would run us ragged and stop at nothing to catch us.

The only solution was to track down whoever kidnapped her and clear our names. It would be a distraction from our mission of mercy to the people, but I felt that it was crucial to our continuing survival and well-being.

I hadn't yet run my idea by the boys because I knew they would all try to stop me. John might agree with me but Robin was the leader and in the end his word was the one we followed. Most of the time.

As soon as the gates of the palace closed behind the last knight I scrambled down from my perch and ran to meet John. He was standing by a house, talking to a group of fawning girls.

Much was standing with him though trying desperately to hide the fact that he was missing one of his hands. He usually kept that arm in a pocket. It was something that embarrassed him greatly.

No matter how many times I told him he was just a good as everyone else and his wonderful personality made up for his lost hand, he was still ashamed of his disfigurement.

"…half as good as Robin." John was saying.

The girls giggled and cooed at that.

"He's so humble!" They cried.

I nearly gagged. John Little? Humble? Yeah, if he was humble then I was a boy! I shook my head at the stupidity of my fellow females.

"Oh, hi Will!"

I cringed. It was Mary Bailey again. She scurried up to me, wrapping her hands around my arm and pulling me closer. Honestly why did she do this? As a boy, I was scrawny with a baby face and a grumpy disposition. I tried to snap at the girls and growl at them to keep them away but they only seemed to be encouraged by my bad moods.

John grinned at me with a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh yes, hiiii Will!" He imitated a high voice, then he puckered up his lips as if he was about to kiss me.

"Shut up Little John!" I snarled, balling my hand into a fist and raising it at his face.

All the girls startled giggling again. They always were amused when 'we boys' fought among ourselves.

Much grinned but said nothing. Just because he was sweet and shy didn't mean he would hold back his own line of teasing. I was going to get it from all sides today.

"Tell me about your latest adventure, Will! Did you get into a fight? Were you brave?" Mary gasped, eyes wide with wonder.

"I killed a man. Slit his throat. Lots of blood and guts." I grumbled, doing my best to disgust her.

"Ooooh!" The girls all gasped.

"Tell 'em how you threw yourself at that knight, Will. Tell 'em how you punched him so hard he spat out his teeth!" John nudged me as if we were sharing a private joke.

Of course none of that ever happened but he was only trying to bump up my image to instigate another round of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. He always got a good laugh out of the mindless flirting of idiot girls, especially when I was the one they were flirting with.

"Oh you are a true hero, Will! A true hero! So brave and strong!" Another girl squealed. She grabbed my other arm and actually rested her head on my shoulder!

John and Much both looked ready to burst. They looked ready to join the girls in their obsessive giggling!

I put on my fiercest scowl and wrenched myself away from the two girls.

"Look you lot, I aint here for your amusement. I 'ave better things to do than stand around telling you about my life, and hanging on me like that. I ain't a tree you can climb."

The other girls backed away from me, looking startled, but Mary just smiled at me with an excited expression on her face.

"Oooh! And so fierce too." She giggled.

John burst into laughter at that. He held his stomach and practically howled. Much was shaking his head, laughing quietly but laughing just the same.

I lunged at Mary, shaking a finger in her pretty little face. "You git going now, ye hear? Got something better to do with your time, I know you do. Git! Or I'll show you how fierce I can be."

As a boy I could never bring myself to hit a girl. As a girl I was sorely tempted to. I almost wanted to tell Mary I was a female, just so I could smack her around a bit.

The girls all scattered after that. Mary shot me one last playful look, adding a wink and blowing a kiss before she waltzed away like she was the queen or something.

John and Much were still laughing. I wheeled on them, punching both of them in the stomach hard enough to make them wince but not hard enough to really hurt them.

"And you two bone heads! Shut your mouths or I'll shut them for you." I threatened.

John held his hands up to his face, eyes wide and innocent. "Oh but Will aren't you strong and fierce and handsome? Kiss me my darling! Let's run away together!"

Much fell on the ground he was laughing so hard. I was momentarily worried that he would suffocate. He was gasping for breath, tears streaming down his cheeks.

I strode up to John, fire flashing in my eyes.

"You listen here John Little, I'm going to smack you so hard that…"

He grabbed me around the waist, spun me in a circle, then gave me a quick kiss. I hardly had time to blink before he released me and took off running, laughing as he went.

My face flushed with embarrassment, then burned with rage. Just who did he think he was?

Much was still in the process of dying. I think he managed a breath here and there but he was now wincing, as if laughing was hurting him. He couldn't bring himself to stop though.

"What are you doing? You can't mop up the ground with your body, Much; dirt doesn't get any cleaner." Robin emerged from the crowd and appeared at my side almost without me noticing.

"Oh Robin you missed it!" Much snickered, sitting up. He had finally got control of himself, rubbing the tears from his eyes and catching his breath.

"What happened?" Robin asked, holding out a hand to help Much to his feet.

I stepped back, glaring at them both.

"If you tell him Much, I'll rip out your spine and beat you with it." I threatened.

Robin raised an eyebrow. If Much was hysterical with laughter and I was flushed with anger then he knew whatever our story was, it was bound to be a good one.

"I'll tell you all about it at Tuckers." Much promised.

"Deal. You comin along Scar, or do you have to go somewhere to sulk?" Robin asked, smiling at me.

I snorted at that. Just because I didn't spend every waking moment with the gang did not mean that I sulked!

"I'm not wasting my time with you idiots; I got things to do."

They never questioned my decision to skip dinner at Tuckers. They all thought I was avoiding humiliation. Truthfully, I was snooping around for clues. Lady Bella De'Garth didn't vanish into thin air; if someone did take her then they had to be hiding her somewhere.

I was fairly certain she wasn't in Sherwood Forest; I knew every tree and branch and hadn't seen unusual activity anywhere. They said she had been taken not far from here, but that didn't mean they were hiding her around here.

I needed more information but where was I going to get that? Any average criminal looking to make money had a motive to steal a Lady but who could actually pull something like that off? Ladies traveled under guard so a potential kidnapper had to be able to defeat trained swordsmen. That meant it was probably a group of criminals.

It was rare for thieves to work together; they were a greedy and selfish lot. Plus there weren't many thieves around these parts besides Robin's gang. So the kidnappers had to be a group of more sinister men.

Could it be a political enemy? Or just someone looking for ransom money? It was a perplexing problem, and one I had to solve soon before things got too hard for us to handle! I was sure that tomorrow we would feel the squeeze of those fifty extra knights closing in on us; it made me feel trapped and nervous. If I didn't take care of this fast, we were in serious danger of getting caught and killed. No matter what Robin thought, it was more than likely that these knights would discover our hiding places and when they did….we were doomed.


End file.
